An independent review of how Austin police investigate sexual assault cases won’t be completed until February 2022, the Austin Public Safety Commission said. Austin City Council agreed last month to pay up to $800,000 to the Washington, D.C.-based Police Executive Research Forum to do the audit, with help from the Philadelphia-based Women’s Law Project and […]
Nadia Hamdan
Posted inPublic Safety
The Provability Gap: Why sexual assault cases are so hard to prosecute in Austin
Austin had the highest number of rapes reported in large Texas cities in 2017. The rate of reported rapes that year was also nearly 40 percent higher than U.S. cities of similar size. The Travis County district attorney says law enforcement responded to more than 600 adult sexual assault allegations that year. Only one person […]
Posted inDevelopment
Demolition of Brackenridge starts this month, paving the way for 17-story office building
After more than 130 years in Austin, a portion of the University Medical Center Brackenridge downtown will come down this month and be replaced by a 17-story office building. The demolition is part of UT Austin’s plan to expand its health care district centered around the Dell Medical School. The new office will provide more […]
Posted inAustin
Amid criticism, Travis County DA resigns from state sexual assault task force
Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore resigned from the state’s Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force on Friday. Her appointment was cut short after critics, including survivors suing over Moore’s record of handling sexual assaults, expressed concern. The task force was created this past legislative session to help promote best practices in rape investigations and prosecutions. […]
Posted inCourts
Sexual assault survivor accuses Travis County prosecutor of lying about her case
Lawyers for a woman who says she was sexually assaulted in Austin are asking a court to force Travis County prosecutors to answer questions and provide evidence after learning of a prosecutor’s phone call they say defames the woman. Emily Borchardt is one of eight plaintiffs who filed a class-action lawsuit against the city and […]
Posted inFire
Rising insurance costs reignite push for new fire stations in Austin
Homeowners in a Del Valle suburb learned last month that their insurance rates could go up as much as $1,000 this year because they’re too far from the nearest fire station. Concerns about the rising rates have jump-started a push to get fire stations built across the city. City Council voted in 2016 to build […]
Posted inEnvironment
What’s the story behind the different tags on trees around Austin?
You can’t not notice the trees that line the paths on Austin’s many hike and bike trails. But have you ever noticed a fair amount of them are numbered? They’re on small metal tags nailed to the trunks. Writer Will Neely noticed them while he was running along the Butler Hike and Bike Trail, so […]
Posted inEMS
With labor dispute focused on police, Austin’s EMS union feels overlooked
Austin police officers aren’t the only public safety personnel without an employment contract with the city. For the first time in nearly 10 years, emergency medical service employees are without a contract, too. Tony Marquardt, president of the Austin-Travis County EMS Employee Association, said that because the police is the largest of the public safety […]